HEARTBROKEN parents of baby killer Lucy Letby’s victims say growing calls for her to be freed are led by “lies and misinformation”.
The former neonatal nurse, 34, who is serving 15 whole-life sentences, has appointed leading human rights barrister Mark McDonald in a bid to have her convictions overturned.
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He specialises in miscarriages of justice – with an appeal to the Criminal Cases Review Commission to be submitted as early as Christmas.
Next week an inquiry will begin into what happened at Countess of Chester Hospital, where Letby worked.
It will not explore the possibility of her innocence.
In August 2023, a jury at Manchester Crown Court found Letby guilty of murdering seven very young babies and trying to murder six others following an eight-month trial.
Nicknamed ‘The Angel of Death’, she was then found guilty of a further attempted murder in July following a re-trial.
Social media groups began to spring up during her original trial, with members convinced Letby was the victim of a conspiracy.
Since her latest conviction, there has been growing support for campaigns to release her.
“We would like to say, shame on you all,” the parents of twin babies E and F told The Sunday Times.
Having attended the trials, they explained that certain pieces of evidence are being discussed “grossly out of context and misrepresented”.
“Misinformation is being circulated about what transpired in court,” they said, adding: “This whole traumatic experience made us question humanity.”
“We just want some peace to grieve, knowing the person who caused so much agony is where she belongs.”
The mother found she was pregnant with twins in 2015 after failed IVF attempts.
Letby murdered Baby E by causing an internal bleed and giving a lethal injection of air.
Baby F was poisoned with insulin but survived.
Weeks before the trial started in October 2022, the Royal Statistical Society published a paper called ‘Healthcare serial killer or coincidence’.
It was completely unrelated to the Letby case and explored the challenges of using statistics to investigate medical staff suspected of murdering patients because they happened to be on shift at the time.
The report referenced the cases of Lucia de Berk, a Dutch nurse who was jailed for killing seven patients before being released in 2010, and Italian nurse Daniela Poggiali, accused of murdering up to 38 patients before being cleared in 2021.
Letby was found guilty of carrying out the crimes between June 2015 and June 2016.
In May, Letby lost her Court of Appeal bid to challenge her convictions from last year.
Her new lawyer McDonald told the BBC: “I knew almost from the start, following this trial, that there is a strong case that she is innocent.
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“The fact is juries get it wrong. And yes, so does the Court of Appeal – history teaches us that.”
Leiden University statistician Professor Richard Gill has previously argued Letby is innocent.
The charges Letby has been convicted of in full
Child A, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby injected air intravenously into the bloodstream of the baby boy. COUNT 1 GUILTY.
Child B, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the baby girl, the twin sister of Child A, by injecting air into her bloodstream. COUNT 2 GUILTY.
Child C, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said Letby forced air down a feeding tube and into the stomach of the baby boy. COUNT 3 GUILTY.
Child D, allegation of murder. The Crown said air was injected intravenously into the baby girl. COUNT 4 GUILTY.
Child E, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby murdered the twin baby boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. COUNT 5 GUILTY.
Child F, allegation of attempted murder. Letby was said by prosecutors to have poisoned the twin brother of Child E with insulin. COUNT 6 GUILTY.
Child G, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby targeted the baby girl by overfeeding her with milk and pushing air down her feeding tube. COUNT 7 GUILTY, COUNT 8 GUILTY, COUNT 9 NOT GUILTY.
Child H, two allegations of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby sabotaged the care of the baby girl in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations. COUNT 10 NOT GUILTY, COUNT 11 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child I, allegation of murder. The prosecution said Letby killed the baby girl at the fourth attempt and had given her air and overfed her with milk. COUNT 12 GUILTY.
Child J, allegation of attempted murder. No specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the baby girl. COUNT 13 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child K, allegation of attempted murder. The prosecution said Letby compromised the baby girl as she deliberately dislodged a breathing tube. COUNT 14 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT AT ORIGINAL TRIAL, NOW GUILTY AFTER RETRIAL
Child L, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said the nurse poisoned the twin baby boy with insulin. COUNT 15 GUILTY.
Child M, allegation of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby injected air into the bloodstream of Child L’s twin brother. COUNT 16 GUILTY.
Child N, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby inflicted trauma in the baby boy’s throat and also injected him with air in the bloodstream. COUNT 17 GUILTY, COUNT 18 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT, COUNT 19 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child O, allegation of murder. Prosecutors say Letby attacked the triplet boy by injecting him with air, overfeeding him with milk and inflicting trauma to his liver with “severe force”. COUNT 20 GUILTY.
Child P, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said the nurse targeted the triplet brother of Child O by overfeeding him with milk, injecting air and dislodging his breathing tube. COUNT 21 GUILTY.
Child Q, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby injected the baby boy with liquid, and possibly air, down his feeding tube. COUNT 22 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
